Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 253: Scram

Chapter 253: Scram

"This man is Doctor Bin An Sha," introduced Wei Xiao Li, not caring about the look that Wang Ying had shot him. "He is a healer and wanted to take a look at you."

"Healer?" asked the elderly man before he waved his hand in the air. "What use do I have for a healer? He should have been here a year or two ago when he could have helped save the poor Wu Bai Hee. Oh, that poor, poor girl. Such a horrible way to die."

The sleeve of his shirt fell down to his elbow, and I saw a massive amount of scar tissue running the entire length of his arms.

"All three categories of burn scars are present on the forearm extending from the back of the hand to the elbow. The contracture scars have taken up the majority of the space, but I can also see some hypertrophic scars as well as keloid scars on the inner elbow," I categorized out loud to Bin An Sha.

"Course of treatment?" asked the man, a smile on his face as he looked at me.

"Not sure," I admitted with a shrug. "Burns were never part of my in-depth training, and these ones look to have been around for an extended period of time."

My training would have called for me to leave the damaged flesh uncovered and call someone down from the burn unit to take over the patient. Burns required delicate care, a knowledgeable staff, and impeccable timing in order to be able to recover.

And I was pretty sure that this man lacked all three things.

"You are right. In the days before the world went to pot, there would be almost no way of recovering after all that time had passed. The best we could have done would be to recommend skin graphing and physiotherapy," explained Bin An Sha as if we were doing rounds in the hospital and he was the head doctor.

"But his age would also have played a factor in the recovery," I added, nodding my head.

"Precisely," smiled Bin An Sha, rubbing my head.

"Are you two just about done making fun of our head? Is this why you brought them here, Wei Xiao Li? To tell the head everything that can’t be done?" demanded Wan Ying, but Bin An Sha simply rolled his eyes.

"Actually, if you were paying attention, I referenced a time before the end of the world happened. Now it is as simple as laying my hand on his, and he will be miraculously healed," chuckled Bin An Sha, but the smile on his face screamed danger. "But I would need to be alone with him and my lovely assistant, of course."

Wan Ying let out a bark of laughter as his eyes narrowed. "If you think that I am letting you alone in a room with our head, you have another thing coming."

"Fine," shrugged Bin An Sha. "It’s no skin off my back if he dies. And he will. It’s a matter of hours at this point, or did you miss the fact that he was coughing up blood?"

The ants on my arm screamed at me that it would be very much the skin off my back if that old man died. However, I couldn’t figure out why he was so important.

I was about to bypass everyone and just let my power go, but I quickly ran into a problem. We were standing on a white marble floor, and the man was seated in a wheelchair.

Both the marble and the chair were comprised of non-living material, and I wasn’t able to transfer my power through them and into him.

Fuck my life.

That also meant that I would be drawing the power from myself in order to heal him since I couldn’t access the roots around here.

"Why don’t we go back out into the garden?" I suggested, not caring that I was interrupting an argument between Wei Xiao Li and Wan Ying.

Everyone’s attention turned to me, and I shrugged.

"Excellent idea," nodded Bin An Sha. "Everyone could keep watch through the glass doors and make sure that nothing unwarranted happened to your beloved head. And I might actually get the chance to save him."

"You really think that we were born yesterday, don’t you?" sneered Wan Ying. "And how do we know that you aren’t just going to kill him and escape through the back?"

"Wouldn’t that be why you were watching through the doors?" I asked, confused. "Because I am pretty sure that you could get to us way before I could escape. And none of the guys would be willing to leave me behind here."

"Let them try," coughed the old man, once again spitting more blood and phlegm into a handkerchief. "What is the worst that could happen? I am going to die anyway. I still need to meet up with the Black Mountain Syndicate and apologize for not being able to protect Wu Bai Hee. Only they should get the honor of my death."

Taking in as deep of a breath as he could, he waved Wan Ying away. "Xiao Li, you help me outside and then leave us alone."

"Of course, Head," bowed the man as he moved around Wan Ying to take the handles of the wheelchair and turn it around until it was facing the open doors again.

"Why don’t we sit under the tree? It’s such a beautiful day; you might as well enjoy it," I smiled, pointing toward yet another big tree.

Luckily, it wasn’t the same one that Zhong Bo Hai was knocked out under, or that would have been a bit awkward.

The elderly man waved his hand to indicate that he didn’t care, and Wei Xiao Li pushed him forward.

"Perfect," I smiled, kneeling down in front of the man.

"Scram," sneered Bin An Sha, nodding his head toward the patio doors and the inside of the house. "We have it from here."

Wei Xiao Li opened his mouth to protest, but the look the elderly man gave him was enough to shut him up.

After taking a deep, calming breath, Wei Xiao Li nodded his head and spun around on his heels, leaving the three of us alone in the backyard under the beautiful willow tree.